Kershaw County Missing Child Found Dead

Kershaw County, SC (WLTX) - Kershaw County deputies say a missing 15-year-old child has been found dead.

Kershaw County Sheriff Jim Matthews says Daven Williams' body was found in a swimming pool at a home.

The boy was staying at Pine Grove, a school and residential facility that helps children with autism. The school sent a statement that Williams walked off their property around 5:30 a.m. Friday.

"It's horrible it's something you don't wanna hear, not as a mother, or as a person or as anything else," said Rebecca Jones. She has family members that work at the school and spent time searching on Friday.

The school says door alarms alerted staff that a child was moving, which in turn led them to call law enforcement.

"They figure out he was missing right away because they were having an issue in the dorm where he was staying and there were two caretakers with him and one of them had to leave and when the other one turned their back he apparently fled, or bolted and got out," said Matthews.

He says he was found in the pool of a home a quarter of a mile down the road from Pine Grove. He says the child was autistic and non-verbal.

Investigators searched near Chestnut Road in Elgin. They're used multiple officers to look for signs of him, and were assisted by a State Law Enforcement Division helicopter as well as Elgin Police, firefighters and members of the community looking for him as well.

"We canvassed the area, we obviously checked our property, lock our shed, but we looked in our shed as well, and we've just been looking all morning," said Jamie Milhomens, who lives near Pine Grove.

"I'm sure his parents loved him and the staff over there is very upset. They bond with these kids so nobody's happy about this. It's a very sad event," said Matthews.